Saturday, August 13, 2005

The first thing to know about me is that I am a Gemini. This is important to know, because in my dabbling in astrology I have found the following traits linked to Geminis: curious and inventive, but also scattered and lacking in follow-through. That about sums up my foray into knitting.

My grandmother always knit, and would have been happy to teach me . . . but no, I wanted to crochet. (I still don't know how). A couple of years after she passed on, I was with my now-husband-then-boyfriend shopping in Boston and came across a knitting book. I suddenly decided I must teach myself to knit. We bought the book, and it sat unread for about a year.

One day I decided the time was right to teach myself. I bought some double-pointed metal needles (what did I know) picked up some acrylic yarn I had saved from my grandmother's stash and began the first project in the book. The Basic Dishcloth. It was a square done entirely in the knit stitch. My journey had begun . . .

As luck would have it, my uncle came up from Tennessee for a visit. This turned out to be a good thing, knit-wise, because we all went for a visit with my great-aunt Stella - my grandmother's sister. I brought along my knitting for advice and help (little did I know how much help I needed).

The first think Aunt Stella did was ask "Why are you knitting on those needles?". Why? Well, there were an awful lot to choose from at the store and those looked nice. She promptly gave me a pair of single pointed needles. She then pointed out that a dishcloth knitted in acrylic would not be very absorbent. (Looking back now, how could I have been so stupid??) She also attempted to correct my technique, which seemed (to quote her) "ass-backwards". As it turns out, she was right . . .